Board
of Directors
Chad P. Wick
President and CEO
KnowledgeWorks Foundation
Since December 1998, Chad Wick has been the president
and CEO of KnowledgeWorks Foundation. As the first president
and CEO of KnowledgeWorks Foundation, Wick led the development
of a strategic plan that has positioned the Foundation
to play a national leadership role in the areas of college
access and school facilities planning. Under Wick's leadership,
the Foundation was asked by the Ohio Board of Regents
to help create the Ohio College Access Network and was
invited by the U.S. Secretary of Education to be a founding
member of the National Pathways to College Network. The
Foundation is also partnering with the U.S. Department
of Education to inform local school districts in Ohio
about the impact of school facilities on learning outcomes,
and to encourage school districts to work with communities
during the planning and design process.
Wick is highly respected for the work he has done on
behalf of Ohio's children. His involvement in early childhood
education earned him an appointment to the National Advisory
Council of the Education Commission of the States. Before
coming to the Foundation, he co-founded RISE Learning
Solutions, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving
the training of those that work with infants, children,
and youth. Ohio's Gov. Bob Taft has congratulated Wick "for
his superb leadership in founding RISE," and has
called RISE "critical to accomplishing our number
one priority for Ohio, enabling every child to succeed." RISE
Learning Solutions has also received the Ohio's BEST
award for early childhood practices in the state.
Wick has been a leader in the nonprofit world for many
years. Among his many involvements, he created and was
the first chairman of the annual campaign for the YWCA
of Cincinnati. When he was chairman of the Contemporary
Arts Center (CAC) in Cincinnati, Wick started the dialogue
that ultimately resulted in a decision to build a major
new facility - the first art museum in the country to
be designed by a female architect (Zaha Hadid). Wick
was also a key Ohio leader in fundraising for the renovation
of the Statue of Liberty.
Throughout his career, Wick has demonstrated his commitment
to equal opportunities for all people. He co-chaired
the successful effort to amend Ohio's constitution, making
housing a public purpose. He was the first Cincinnati
bank president to recruit an African-American to his
board of directors and to have an African-American woman
as a senior bank officer. He also advocated support of
minority-owned businesses and worked to eliminate "red-lining" (a
practice that prevented those living in low-income areas
from receiving mortgage loans). In addition, he was appointed
by the Governor to the State of Ohio Banking Board and
the Governor's Housing Commission.
Wick earned his bachelor's degree in business administration
from the University of Cincinnati and his master's degree
with distinction in international management from Thunderbird,
the American Graduate School of International Management.
Wick is also a veteran of the U.S. Air Force.
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